Perspective

Taggart Hansen, one of the three finalists for the vacant District 4 seat on the board of the Denver Public Schools, withdrew from consideration late Friday night in a letter to board president Mary Seawell.

The search for a successor to Nate Easley, who left the board in January to head the Denver Scholarship Foundation, foundered during a process that saw a field of 25 applicants whittled to nine and then to a final three.

At that point, the board reached an impasse and, after a round of voting Thursday evening, abandoned any further attempt to reach consensus, or even a simple majority. Hansen, an attorney with CH2M Hill, had reached the final three along with Landri Taylor and Antwan Jefferson.

Colorado Classroom covers local and state education issues affecting K-12 and higher education students in the state of Colorado.

Now Seawell will make the pick herself. She indicated the announcement would come Monday, and that she would consider all of the final nine applicants.

"I talked with him (Friday) afternoon, when he made his decision," Seawell said. "We were talking through why, and why this is right for him. But I was disappointed."

In his letter, Hansen said that while he has the ability to be an effective board member, "the political posturing on display by select members at the March 13 meeting was not only incredibly disheartening, but also made it increasingly clear that I am unable to devote the time or energy necessary to help you overcome the dysfunction this type of behavior engenders."

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At Thursday's last ditch effort to find common ground on Easley's replacement, board member Arturo Jimenez slammed the selection process as "the worst kind of fixed gaming" and urged Seawell to either reopen it or appoint Barbara Medina, who had been eliminated in the first cut, as an interim board member who would not seek re-election.

He then refused to participate in the vote.

When the impasse threw the decision into Seawell's hands, board member Andrea Mérida also asked if she would consider Medina as a 10th applicant. Seawell declined, saying that would run contrary to the process the board had pursued for nearly two months.

A day earlier, the Colorado Latino Forum filed a civil rights complaint over the absence of any Latino applicants among the finalists and also pushed Medina as a qualified candidate. Nearly half of District 4 students are Hispanic, 27 percent black and 16 percent white, according to DPS figures.

Hansen said he believes Seawell has "worked hard and in earnest to break through the dysfunction and return the focus to our kids. Unfortunately, existing commitments to work and family have led me to the difficult decision that I am unable to serve as an effective partner in that effort."

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